March 04, (THE WILL)- The tax evasion trial of three former leaders of the German Football Association (DFB) began on Monday, centring around a controversial €6.7 million payment linked to the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany.
Theo Zwanziger, Wolfgang Niersbach, and Horst Schmidt stand accused of arranging incorrect tax returns in 2006 to avoid paying millions in taxes related to the payment.
The funds, which prosecutors allege were incorrectly claimed as payment for a World Cup-related event that never occurred, triggered multiple investigations over the years. Niersbach, the former DFB president who resigned in 2015 amid the scandal, denies any wrongdoing alongside his co-defendants. “I always wished for the truth to be on the table. That goes only through an open process,” Zwanziger told reporters before the trial.
While a 2016 DFB-commissioned report claimed the payment was a repaid loan from former Adidas executive Robert Louis-Dreyfus, separate probes raised suspicions it may have been used as a slush fund to buy votes for Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid. In 2017, German tax authorities ordered the DFB to pay over €20 million in back taxes related to 2006.
The long-running case, which has seen the DFB’s integrity questioned, is expected to last several months as prosecutors seek to unravel the true nature of the controversial payment. The trial represents a pivotal moment for German football as it aims to restore its reputation on the global stage.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
